12 Tips for Mastering Canva as a Pinterest User
As a Pinterest manager + strategist, Canva is by far my top used tool. I use it to design pins, schedule pins, share templates with clients, create presentations…YOU NAME IT! Canva does it all. In fact it does so much that even if you’re already a Canva user - you may not be using it to it’s full potential! So I’ve created this list to share some Canva tips, tricks, hacks & features that I’ve learned over the years and use on a daily basis.
Here are my top 12 Canva tips that will save you time & help you become a Canva (for Pinterest) pro!
Utilize templates but make them your own! Canva has a TON of free templates to use as a jumping off point for designing Pinterest pins. However, if you're going to use a pre-designed Canva Pinterest pin template…change it up (a lot!). It's obvious when pinners use a template they found from the Canva library and hardly changed anything at all...don't do that! Not only is it boring for users to see the same template a million times, the algorithm finds it boring too. Remember that Pinterest is a visual search engine so you may end up being grouped together with similar templates for topics that have nothing to do with your pin, just because it looks like another one already on the platform.
Look beyond the Pinterest pin templates for design inspiration. There are so many awesome categories on Canva (beyond pin specific templates) with fresh designs that most people overlook when designing for Pinterest. You can choose designs from other categories and make them fit into the Pinterest pin dimensions. Other categories to consider for design inspiration are: Newsletter, Poster, Magazine Cover, Book Covers (these can all be easily adapted to the dimensions of a Pinterest pin).
Create 5-10 templates that you can use when you’re ready to pin new content. This is the biggest time saving hack! You don’t have to design something new every time, as long as you’re changing enough of the design (like photo and text overlay). This also helps with brand recognition as users start to associate your pin designs with your brand.
Add your logos, brand colors and fonts to your Brand Kit to easily create on-brand pin designs. This is another huge time saver! Once you’ve uploaded everything and you’re in design mode, click “styles” on the Canva side bar to make any template on-brand to you.
Stay on brand, BUT...do competitor research first. Let’s say your brand colors are pink and blue. Head to the search bar and search the topic of your pin, what do you see? If you see a ton of other pins that are pink and blue, you might want to design a pin that’s orange and yellow in an effort to stand out in the search feed. Sometimes it's ok to go "off brand" in order to stand out.
Use stock photo sites other than the Canva images for a wider range of options. If you can take your own photos, that's even better! My favorite stock photo sites are: Pexels, Unsplash, iStock, and Adobe Stock.
Make use of folders. This is something I didn’t do for the longest time (why? I don’t know!) so it was a total game changer when I started! Canva’s home page can get REALLY messy and unorganized so it’s helpful to create folders where you can easily organize and access your designs. Another huge time saver!
Connect your Pinterest account and pin directly from Canva. Designing a pin in Canva and then not even having to leave the site to schedule it is a HUGE convenience! Connect your account under Settings > Connect Social Accounts. Then simply press “Publish to Pinterest” at the top of any design and follow the steps, it’s so easy! And since Canva is an approved third party scheduler, scheduling directly within it won't hurt you in the algorithm (yay!).
Pro tip: If you want to pin the same pin twice directly from Canva, you’ll have to create a separate file for each one. (this is where folders come in handy!)
Name your Canva files with a long tail keyword related to your pin. Whether you’re downloading the pin design to your computer and then uploading it to Pinterest, or you’re uploading directly from Canva, the design name is another place you can sneak in a keyword to help your pins in the algorithm.
Use Canva’s Pinterest sizes guide to make sure your pin designs are the correct dimensions. Here you’ll find optimal dimensions for pins, board covers, & profile photos. It’s not listed here (yet) but you can also search “Pinterest idea pins” in the “Create a Design” search bar to find the correct dimensions for idea pins (my favorite Pinterest feature!).
Use animation! With video pins & idea pins on the rise, static pins can easily get lost in the crowd. Animating elements on your pins can help them stand out and stop the scroll quicker. You can animate an element on your Pinterest pin by clicking the element and then “animate”. There are also lots of pre-animated elements you can find under “elements” in the side bar.
Download the Canva Mobile App to preview what your pins look like on mobile. Did you know that 85% of Pinterest users are browsing on their phones!? That’s a lot, so it’s important to make sure your pins are optimized for mobile and look good on your phone. Make sure you can read all of the text overlay, especially if you’re using a script font!